Moira Kerrane, a longstanding community activist in the Deptford and Evelyn areas of Lewisham, died unexpectedly last Monday.
Moira Kerrane, who was 59, was involved with the community on many levels. She was a trustee for the social welfare charity 2000 Community Action Centre. She was also active in the local Labour Party, Deptford Park and Folkestone Gardens User Group, Deptford Park Play Club, along with multiple tenants resident associations and much more.
Neil Kerrane, Moira’s brother, told Eastlondonlines how a “tidal wave of love” has poured in from the community in response to her death.
In a full council meeting last week Councillor Hau-Yu Tam said: “It’s with deep sadness and disbelief that we share that Moira Kerrane, a community activist and worker from Evelyn passed away this Monday.” Tam praised Kerrane on how “she tirelessly gave up herself to public people and places.”
The Mayor of Lewisham, Damien Egan, said: “She gave me a lot of advice before I became Mayor, she was a woman with high expectations for her neighbourhood, and quite rightly so.” He added: “She is someone who is genuinely going to be missed by this council and this community.”
Bernadette Russell, a writer from Deptford, who was a close friend of Kerrane said she was “a force of nature.” Russell added that “she would speak truth to power, fight for her community and make amazing things happen” as well as being a “really good friend to people who took time to talk, took time to listen and was real good fun.”
One of Kerrane’s many contributions was the Deptford Park Play Club, a volunteer run play group for children which she started in 2013. The space has become integral to families in Deptford, offering support for local children as well as parents.
Marianna Femia is one of many parents who has volunteered and depended on the play club. Femia described how Kerrane “effectively saved it” after council cuts threatened to close it down.
Femia’s three children have all grown up in the play club. Femia says that the volunteers will “make sure it keeps running… that’s what Moira would have wanted.”
Trina Lynskey, chair of Deptford Park and Folkestone Gardens User Group, said: “it is impossible to list the ways Moira supported our community… her contributions and insights were invaluable.”
More than 650 families in Deptford have used the play club over the years.
Born in Middlesbrough, Kerrane moved to Deptford in the early 2000s. She was chosen to be one of the Unsung Heroes for the Lesnes Hundred, a project which aims to “celebrate ordinary people who have done good things without seeking recognition.” The project, by artist Eric Maclennan, was made into a book which was published on the same Monday she passed away.
Neil Kerrane said that Kerrane had “no underlying health conditions” and was healthy. Neil added that an interim death certificate had been issued but the family are currently waiting for a coroner’s report.
